Stock futures are little changed as investors weigh Middle East tensions and await Fed minutes: Live updates

Stock futures were near flat Tuesday as investors weighed rising tensions in the Middle East and surging oil prices. They also looked ahead to minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 29 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both edged down about 0.1%.

The U.S. started a "series of powerful strikes" against Iran on Tuesday evening, retaliating for attacks against three commercial vessels traveling in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Central Command said. Earlier, the Treasury Department revoked a license that permitted Iran to sell its oil around the world in light of the attacks in the Hormuz Strait. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were last up more than 2% to top $72 a barrel.

Asia-Pacific markets fell Wednesday as escalating tensions in the Middle East dented investor sentiment.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.55%, while the Topix declined 0.7%. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.72%, and the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 1.94%. Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was 1.36% lower.

In the U.S. in Tuesday's regular session, investors rotated out of artificial intelligence-linked stocks while rising oil prices weighed on sentiment. The 30-stock Dow fell more than 100 points after earlier touching a fresh intraday record. The S&P 500 slipped 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.2% as chipmakers led the declines.

Investors' attention now turns to the minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's June meeting, due at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday. The release is expected to provide more insight into Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's first policy meeting, where officials left interest rates unchanged while signaling that additional rate hikes could be warranted if inflation pressures persist.

"The FOMC minutes will be [a] wildcard simply because Warsh was so opaque at the most recent press conference," Adam Crisafulli, founder of Vital Knowledge, said in a note. "Normally, [Jerome] Powell provided fairly comprehensive accounting of the meeting discussion, but that didn't happen with Warsh, so the minutes, which are likely to be hawkish in tone, could contain some surprises."Â

— CNBC's Garrett Downs contributed reporting.

Asia-Pacific markets opened lower Wednesday as escalating tensions in the Middle East weighed on investor sentiment.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 fell 0.55%, while the Topix declined 0.7%. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.72%, and the small-cap Kosdaq dropped 1.94%.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was 1.36% lower.

Hong Kong-listed AI model company Z.ai said late Tuesday that nearly 70% of its cornerstone investors will keep holding shares despite the six-month lock-up period expiring Wednesday. The Beijing-based company said backers including state-backed funds, WT Asset Management and Optimas Capital would keep holding the shares, but did not specify a time range.

Also known as Knowledge Atlas, Z.ai has seen its shares skyrocket by 1,200% since listing in January. The company last month announced plans to also offer shares in mainland China's A share market.

PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng said at a summit in Hong Kong on Tuesday that Beijing would continue to support listings of "high-quality" companies on the exchange, and expand the annual quota for mainland Chinese investment in Hong Kong and Macao-traded bonds by 300 billion to 800 billion yuan ($44 billion to $118 billion).

Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mostly lower Wednesday on rising tensions in the Middle East, after the U.S. launched fresh strikes on Iran in retaliation for Tehran targeting commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 is set to open lower, with the futures contract in Chicago at 67,725, against the index's last close of 68,256.96.

Australia's benchmark S&P/ASX 200 also looked set to decline, with futures last at 8,743, compared with the index's close of 8,803.90.

Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 23,499, compared with its last close of 23,496.89.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday revoked its authorization for Iranian oil sales after a series of attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz this week.

Gold prices fell for a fourth straight session on Tuesday, extending a sharp retreat from record highs reached earlier this year as investors continued to unwind safe-haven trades.

August gold futures settled down 0.2% at $4,157.40 an ounce, turning in the first negative day in four. The precious metal has not settled below the $4,000 level since Nov. 6, 2025.

Gold has now fallen more than 20% since the Iran conflict began in late February, giving back much of the geopolitical premium that helped propel prices to an all-time intraday high of $5,626.80 and a record settlement of $5,354.80 on Jan. 29. The metal is now down 4.2% for the year.

Trivariate Research founder Adam Parker sees the story of technology stocks and the broader market connected, despite questions about if a rotation is in the works.

"You can't be bullish on the U.S. equity market and bearish on tech," Parker said Tuesday on CNBC's "Closing Bell." "Those are incongruous concepts."

Parker said in a note to clients that nearly three-fifths of S&P 500 earnings expansion over the next two years will come from tech. He called that an "incredibly high" percentage.